Sierra County advocate. [volume] (Kingston, N.M.) 1884-1960, 1887-07-15
BUFFALO BILL IN THE WILD WEST.



The following. written by w. +. Cody,
appears in recent issue of The Lond0n
Globe: | was born in February, lSi5,
in the state of Iowa. | need not so in
to details respecting my family, and
can dismiss my youth briefly by saying
that when / was not on horse l was
just being thrown off one. | soon be-
came pretty smart rider, and my
practice with gun was pretty good
too. | was II years old when killed
my first Indian. 1t happened rather
sudden. | was walking out by the
river, near Fort kearney, one night
about 10 o. clock. My companions had
cot on ahead somehow, and Twas quite
alone, when looking up toward the
blum bordering the river | saw, IL
Illuminated by the moon. the head and
shoulders of live Indian, watching
me with evident interest. Now l had
heard many stories of the redmen, and
had also been inculcated with n
thorough distrust of their ways; so.
quickly coming TO conclusion as to
what | should do, | brought my gun to
my shoulder, and aiming at the head,
fired. The report sounded louder than
usual in the silence OF the night, for it
was past 10 o'clock. and was followed
by war whoop such as could only be
built up by an Indian, and the next
instant over six feet of dead Indian
/ IL. Nlnp "a, int ~ ha
Soon after this | went to business l
took to the plains, and in the employ
ment of Messrs. Russell IL Simpson
soon learned the inns and outs OF the
wild life led with horses and cattle
driving teams riding express ponies,
and getting to know the land. Among
other things, somehow found out how
to hunt builaloes, n sport second to
none, if you know how. shall never
forget the faces of five officers | met on
the paririe once, now many years ago
They were after heard OF butlaloes.
So was |. We exchanged views. l
gave them my ideas, they gave me theit
sympathy. you don't expect to catch
buffaloes with that gothic steed, said
they
II am going to try" said.
you'll never do it, man alive" sale
the captain. 1T wants fast horse tt
overtake buffalo" "
Does itP' | responded.
"Yes, bA<-ybu can come with us !
you like. "
And did like There were clever
buflaloes in the herd, and, while th'
officers rode straight at them, ] headet
the leaders, and got up to them wifi
ease. The horse which my companion
had been chatting was the famous Brig
ham, who knew as much about TIN
sport as | did; he speedily did his par
of the business. A few jumps brough
us up to the herd. Raising 'Lucretls
Borgia, my trusty weapon. | aimee
at the first animal fired and brough
him down. Brigham, like the ideal an
imal that he was, carried me rapid,
up to the next brute, not ten feet away
and, when had dropped him, bounded
on to the next, and so on. until has
slain the whole eleven animals, anc
then my horse stopped dismountet
to regard my work with feeling o
satisfaction, Those officers rode uE
shortly and shall never forget then
expression as they surveyed the worl
of five minutes lying around.
My horse Brigham was an exception
ally intelligent brute. He took th'
keenest delight in sport, and invariabl.
took pains to aid me in getting game
All he expected of me was to do th'
shooting. The rest was his work. I'll
would always stop if the buffalo did no
fall at the first shot, so as to give me
second chance; but if | dit not brn!
him down then, he would go on dis
gusted. 80
II was in'l867 that the Kansas Pacif
track was in the buffalo country, an'
the company was employing owe
twelve hundred men in the making O
the road. The Indians were yer
troublesome, and it was not alway
easy to get sufficient supplies of fres
meat for the men. 1t was about thi
time that Messrs. Goddard, the con
tractors to the constructors, made m
a handsome offer, provided ! woul
undertake to hunt for them. They re
auired twelve buflaloes per diem. Th
work was somewhat dangerous, OWN
to the Indians, but the terms were hand
, some - $500 per month. ] took til
offer, and in less than eighteen months
during which time my engagemer
lasted, ! killed 1920 buffaloes single
handed and had many scrimmage
with the Indians. and hairbreadt
escapes. 1t was during this period {
my career that l had my celebrate
, buifalo-killing match with Billy Con
. stock, the noted scout, then at tol
, Wallace. The terms were settled O
, fellow: We were to hunt one day
eight hours, from 8 A. NJ. to 7.
D The stakes were $500 side, and tn
l man who killed the most buffaloes wa
, to be declared the winner. The conte
, took place twenty miles east from Sher
: dan, and many thousand people can
I from all parts to see the sport. W
p were fortunate in finding animals, an
4 had plenty of sport We made thre
G runs each, and killed sixty-nine buifi
g loes, my rival being content with FORT
a six Not bad days work, da
4 which is an historical one for me, II
: asmuch as since then ! have invariabl
o been referred to in all parts OF the CIV
$ lized world as Buffalo Bill.
= have now come to that point IN m
o life when events, which in this case d
g not cast their shadows before, brougl
- about an entire change in the rontir
% of my career. point which may !
said to close the first volume of my hi